Proteas’ fighting spirit is primed
PHEHLUKWAYO: WE’VE SHOWN GOOD FIGHTING SPIRIT
The SA camp has momentum after victory at the Wanderers, but there’s no room for error in the fifth ODI in PE today.
Hot and humid Port Elizabeth could suit India more.
Ken Borland
The momentum is there for the Proteas after their thrilling victory at the Wanderers, but there will again be no room for error in the fifth ODI in Port Elizabeth today, with conditions there probably favouring India more than they did in Johannesburg.
Nevertheless, there is plenty of belief in the South African camp and their spirits have certainly been lifted by the way they withstood the pressure and won the fourth ODI to ensure they stayed alive in the series, according to Andile Phehlukwayo, whose phenomenal finishing blows epitomised the new-found confidence in the squad.
“We have good momentum now, but we knew we were not far away and were in a good space and environment. We showed good fighting spirit. Conditions will be different, but we will still look to be positive, get into good positions and look to score.
“There are small margins at this level and just any little shift of momentum is what you need. We were never down and out, we knew victory was not far away and we did really well to stick to our guns at the Wanderers. We know the conditions here in Port Elizabeth and we’ve been training very specific game-plans,” Phehlukwayo said yesterday.
It is hot and humid in Port Elizabeth, so there is a chance of thundershowers.
There is little doubt that Indian wrist-spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal were disadvantaged by a wet ball and skiddy conditions after the rain at the Wanderers, and they will be a threat again, especially if the weather stays dry.
But the Wanderers ODI also showed again that India’s batting is currently heavily reliant on Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan. They have scored 664 runs between them, 71% of India’s total runs in the series, with no-one else contributing more than 98 runs thus far.
“Kohli and Dhawan have batted really well, but it will be nice if we can expose their middle-order again. But we’re not worrying about what they do, we just want to take the momentum and back ourselves, we’re focused on the small things, our skills, making sure we execute one ball at a time.
“We want to hit back-of-a-length, hit that length hard and aim for the top of off-stump. As a bowling unit we came back very well at the Wanderers. We know the pitch in Port Elizabeth, it’s home conditions and we know how to go about our business,” Phehlukwayo said.
Tahir incident probed
Cricket South Africa have confirmed that an incident of racial abuse involving Imran Tahir, who was part of the non-playing squad, during the fourth ODI at the Wanderers last weekend is currently being investigated. Video footage of the incident has been circulating on social media. “Imran was receiving racial and verbal abuse from a man throughout the match, which he reported to security. They then accompanied him back to the scene in order to identify the perpetrator. There were some more hostile verbal exchanges, so they brought Imran back to the changeroom. We will get the stadium security input for our investigation so we can better understand what went on. But Imran did nothing untoward and according to him, it was Indian fan who was abusing him,” Proteas manager Mohammed Moosajee said yesterday.